ALBUM REVIEW: BEABADOOBEE - PYLON (18/09/26)

Two years since her last album came out, Beatrice Laus, more commonly known as beabadoobee, is back with Pylon, a loud, moving, electrifying ensemble of complex songs, cacophonous sounds and vulnerable lyrics that speak to the artist’s state of mind and the feelings she wanted to both dissect in herself and evoke in the listener. Nostalgia feels like the main character in most of the record, balancing between rage and melancholy in a harmony reminiscent of Phoebe Bridgers and a temper commensurate with Halsey’s recent angrier, rockier alt experiments.

Written on tour and in between tours, alone in hotel rooms - somewhat of a callback to how her debut album was also composed in her own bedroom, the record explores themes such as the uncertainty and confusion that comes from being away for long periods of time, both from home as a physical place and from the people we identify with the word.

The distant sounds of people chatting and laughing together are the first things we hear when we hit play on ‘Pylon’, the first and title track of the album. The opening lyrics “I'd rather be nowhere with you / Than somewhere without you / Hold me like a screen / Disconnected from reality “ feel like a statement of intent, immediately posing one of the main questions of the whole project: how can we truly get close to somebody when there is always something else between us, fighting for our love and attention?

Bea channels her alt-rock, grunge roots and 2000s pop rock influences as distorted guitar lead us into ‘Sun Had Set’, an angry anthem with aggressive vocals and lyrics. Her rage shifts slightly to disappointment and a sense of vague resignation in ‘Estranged’, where she tries navigating conflicting feelings, searching for the right approach that seems to escape both her and the person she is talking to.

‘Switchblade’ is the second single off Pylon, where the artist’s rage comes back through biting lyrics (Do you start the fight or take the flight? / Feeling upset, can I choose to phone a friend?/ Growing up just means to fuck everything up again ) but a slower, if chaotically discordant production.

‘Write Me a Letter’ is reminiscent of beabadoobee’s more dream-pop leaning work, her characteristic soft voice sounding as ethereal as ever as she shows herself to be more open and vulnerable, with lyrics about falling in love and vulnerability. The song, written solely by the artist herself, takes an unexpectedly darker turn toward the bridge, claiming doubts and fears about the future of what seemed to be a promising relationship.

Despite the artist’s now clear reservations, track 6 ‘It’s Alright’ provides a lighter approach to love and infatuation, encapsulating those early stages of seeing somebody where daydreaming and the pure joy of spending time with somebody feel more important than anything else. 

Where puppy love and attraction seemed to guide the past track, Anxiety feels like the driving force of ‘In Motion’, where repetition and distortion clash with the softer tone at the start of the song, but as the first verse announces (Bottle it up and then explode / Feel like a bomb because / The weight, the weight, the weight / The weight, the weight's too heavy), the bridge blows everything up, perfectly encapsulating wanting to escape one’s own thoughts and the anger and desperation that come from ultimately being unable to do that, fading out into soft strings as exhaustion and resignation set in.

Track 8 marks the record’s third single, ‘Memories’, where the music feels happier, with almost a folk influence, the lyrics reminisce of good days, but the underlying feeling is one of nostalgia for a kind of happiness we can’t know we will ever have back. “The smell of rain on the pavement / It's 3 a.m. and I thought of you / You're the best, you're my favourite / I see you in all shades of blue”, the imagery is crystal clear, simple and relatable in a way that immediately makes your heart ache for simpler times.

Hayley Williams, lead singer of iconic pop-rock band Paramore, who helped define the very genre of female-fronted music that Bea draws from in this project, stuns as one of record’s main features. ‘Nothing To Prove’, co-written by both artists, is a short but sweet little banger that brings it back to the themes of rage and unfairness - as a woman in the music industry, but also in today’s society, with a fun production and a carefree chorus that feel like a middle finger to the very establishment that still tries and inevitably fails to silence modern female musicians.

The album’s emotional growth reaches a defining point with ‘Radio’, where the artist seems to have found solace both musically and lyrically in knowing that time heals all wounds, calming things down without renouncing the electrical guitars and rock production as she find and choosing herself rather than whoever has let her down repeatedly.

Consolidating this album’s predominantly rock soul, brings out Turnstile lead singer Brendan Yates for ‘Powerlines’, a clear nod to the Pylon fil rouge and the themes of danger, electricity, connection and strong emotions. The song is raw, contained yet as powerful as the title would suggest, the vocals blending together effortlessly.

Things slow down once again with ‘Spark’, the clarity after the initial rush of emotions settling in, a bittersweet feeling reflected in the softer vocals, acoustic guitar, and candid lyrics “From the start I knew it was over / Now I know I probably had it backwards / What was I thinking? I was playing with a spark / How it flickers in the dark / it’s nothing much but it’s a start“. ‘Despite that’ feels like a small epilogue of the previous track, a surrender to the writer’s self knowledge, finally stripped of fantasies of love and sparks of anger and accepting the reality of the present, understanding her own emotions despite what reason tells her.

Bea closes the record off with a nostalgic ode to a relationship and an era that are both long gone, combining the sadness, anger and flicker of hope that permeate every other track, slow verses culminating in a powerful chorus and an almost sweet final goodbye.